§ 7 How Manízha carried off Bízhan to her Palace

V. 1077
Manízha, when her time for going home
Arrived, still longed to gaze upon Bízhan,
And, since his face was gloomy, called her handmaids,
And bade them mingle with a grateful draught
A drug that maketh senseless. This they gave him,
And he, bemused already, swallowed it;
His head sank down and he was lost to sense.
She made a litter to transport the sleeper,
A couch for him on one side, on the other
An easy seat for her. She sprinkled camphor
Upon his couch, and with rose-water drenched
The sandal-wood.

On coming near the city

She veiled the sleeper in a woman's wrapper,
And, entering the palace privily
By night, preserved her secret. She prepared
A chamber and, impatient for Bízhan
To wake, poured in his ear a rousing potion
To bring his senses back. He woke and found
That jasmine-bosomed beauty in his arms,
His head and hers both resting on a pillow,
And in the palace of Afrásiyáb!
Distracted with himself he turned for refuge
To God from Áhriman and thus exclaimed:—
“As for myself there will be no escaping,
O God Almighty! hence. But oh! that Thou
Wouldst execute my vengeance on Gurgín,
And hear the pains and malisons that I
Invoke on him! He led me into this,
Reciting over me a thousand spells.”
Manízha said to him: “Be of good cheer,
And treat all save the present as mere wind.

V. 1078
Adventures of all kinds occur to men,
And feast and fight by turn.”

They banqueted;

Before them was the gibbet or espousal:
They called the rose-cheeked damsels from their bowers,
And decked them in brocade of Chín; forthwith
These girls with fairy faces took the harp,
And fleeted day and night in merriment.
Anon the chamberlain got wind thereof,
And, since one acting on an idle rumour
Will shake the fruit down from the tree of bale,
He took upon him to investigate,
Inquiring who the man was, from what country,
And what he sought in coming to Túrán,
So learned the truth and, fearing for his life,
Went, as the only way to save himself,
Before Afrásiyáb and said to him:—
“Thy daughter hath a lover from Írán!”
The monarch called on God, and thou hadst said:—
“He trembled like the willow in a blast.”
Then from the lashes of his eyes he wiped
The tears of blood and raged, and spake this saw:—
“One with a daughter in his house to guard
May have a crown indeed but is ill-starred.”
He was confounded at Manízha's deed,
Called to him princely Kurákhán and said:—
“Advise me in the matter of this wanton.”
Then Kurákhán: “Examine with more care:
“If so it be there is no more to say,
But hearing is not seeing.”

Instantly

The monarch looked at Garsíwaz and said:—
“What we have borne and still bear from Írán!

V. 1079
And why doth fortune link in one ill chain
Íránian troubles and an evil child?
Go take with thee some prudent cavaliers,
Keep watch upon the palace—roof and gates—
Look well, and any man whom thou shalt see
Therein secure with bonds and drag to me.”